%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio– The Ohio State wrestling Buckeyes, the No. 16 team in the nation, visited No. 22 Pittsburgh Friday and returned home with a 26-11 victory. The Buckeyes improved to 5-3 on the season while the Panthers fall to 3-2 overall.%^$

%^$Ryan Hieber (Fr., Galion, Ohio/Galion) started the dual for the Buckeyes with a victory by decision over Brendon O’Connell at the opening weight-class of 174 pounds. The 3-0 OSU lead was quickly erased by Pittsburgh’s Dan Stine as he scored a major decision victory over Anton Talamantes (So., Ft. Wayne, Ind./Lassens) at 184 and gave the Panthers their only lead of the match, 4-3.%^$

%^$Nick Preston (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) and Tommy Rowlands (Fr., Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Ready) took back the lead at 197 and 285 pounds, respectively. Preston tallied a decision win over David Sandberg to earn the 6-4 team lead OSU never gave back. Rowlands improved to 21-2 on the year with his major decision victory over Jacob Lininger.%^$

%^$With the team score at 10-4, UP scored a three point victory by decision when Shawn Amistade defeated Kore Sharpley (Sr., Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights), and reclaimed the lead (11-10) with a major decision victory by Joe Crecca.%^$

%^$OSU ran the table in the remaining matches, which included major decision victories by Robert Sessley (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Beechcroft) and John Clark (Fr., Canton, N.Y./Canton) at 141 and 165, respectively, and a technical fall victory by Keaton Anderson (So., Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington).%^$

%^$OSU will return to action at 2 p.m. Saturday when it plays host to another set of Panthers, the No. 17 Northern Iowa Panthers, at St. John Arena.%^$